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Free Read Friday: Billy Part V

Billy

Part V

Reaching the hallway much sooner than he wanted, her door stood at the shadowy end. A bleak emptiness illuminated its perimeter as shadowy traces of night flowed through the gap like smoke that hung in the air, twisting and turning over and around one another. The door glowed with a soft white light as it began to swell in the middle, the sound of splintering wood coming to him as he stood rooted in place. It was like it could tell he was standing therem and against his will he was drawn to its bulging surface.

It lay just beyond the door. Drawing him with a sinister voice that spoke to him on a deep primitive level. He knew what waited for him beyond the door, as well as he knew the night, and the terrors it inspired. Shrouded in shadows it moved among the living like an errant thought that brought a brief chill on a warm sunny day. It was the essence of the night, of time immortal, and of a despair that knew no end.

It had claimed Sarah as its own. Driving her to the point of no return, filling her with a deepening sense of hopelessness that offered no light at the end of the tunnel. Driving her to the only option that remained.

Death.

It was as old as time itself, this thing that had laid claim to his sister’s soul, gathering her to it like a farmer reaping its fields. Walking among the living, spreading a boundless despair as it gathered the souls of those too weak to combat its touch.

Ebony traces of emptiness slithered through the shadows toward him, keeping to the dark corners as they sought out the essence of his life.

“Do you believe?” his sister whispered in his thoughts.

Believe in what? He wondered as he moved the length of the hallway, getting closer to her swelling door with every hesitant step. Here those shadowy tendrils of night caressed his legs with black tips that left a chilled touch in their wake. Every touch awakened an old memory that rose from the nighted abyss of his sub conscious, trailing oily bubbles of fear as it breached the light of his awareness, filling him with that overwhelming emptiness of despair.

He loved her, he knew it as well as he knew his own name. Though at times she had been brutally indifferent to his feelings, he still loved her as only a younger brother could love his older sister.

Each memory that rose to the surface of his consciousness contained a snapshot of her disdain for his existence. He saw her as she flipped her head impatiently as she walked away from him. She had no time for her younger brother, she had a life to live, people to meet, pleasures to yet enjoy.

Yet for each slight that rose to his consciousness, there lay another memory that stood in sharp contrast.

Her frantic terror the day he had become lost at the mall and she along with their parents had spent a hectic half hour searching for him.

Therein lay the key. His secret, his belief.

“Do you believe?” She asked with an urgent voice.

It was then he realized she was waiting for him on the other side of the door, trapped in the ebony grasp of a ferocious beast that could turn any happiness into an endless despair. A creature that existed only in shadows, avoiding the light of day, of reason, and most importantly, the blinding light of love.

He loved her as she loved him, a love only siblings could truly understand. As he moved down the hall, deeper into the shadows, the gloominess was pushed back by a faint white light that came from everywhere, and nowhere. He was like a shining beacon pushing back the night, exposing those shadowy corners where nightmares held sway over the light of reason.

Those shadowy tendrils of night retreated in the face of his approach, drawing back to the door to vanish into the darkness that outlined its soft white façade. As he was reaching for the knob he realized the light was coming from within him. Filling him with calm as that crashing sound came from the other side of his sister’s door.

It was waiting for him.

Taking a deep breath he turned the knob and pushed into the room.

She was sitting on the bed, her knees drawn up under her chin, watching him with wide, terror filled eyes.

“They’re out there,” she whispered as he crossed to her.

From the poster on the wall behind her came the sound of some massive beast as it crashed through the forest. Along the edges of the poster faint tendrils of night slithered over and around one another in a primitive dance to a forgotten god.

Billy took her hand and tried to lead her to her door.

“No,” she said as he yanked her hand from his grasp. “Not that way.”

“How?” he asked and she turned her head to look at the poster on the wall behind her. “It’s the only way.”

He recalled how it had felt, his finger vanishing beneath the surface of the poster, the cold chill that had crept the length of his arm, the soft whispers that invaded his thoughts. How could he touch it again?